Abstract:Cities and regions in Europe are increasingly mobilised to counter and prevent processes of violent radicalisation in their territories, and a great number of innovative and promising practices, projects and programmes are being rolled out across Europe. The member cities of the European Forum for Urban Security (Efus) have made the prevention of extremist violence of all sorts a priority since 2013, and through their common forum they have developed a wide variety of activities to foster knowledge on the topic among local stakeholders, provide training for elected officials and practitioners, step up European exchange of promising practices, provide political support by a network of peers as well as technical support in the implementation of local actions to counter radicalisation.
Efus will present its core guidelines and commitments regarding radicalisation as well as key outcomes of the European projects it leads and has lead on the topic (Local Institutions against Extremism - LIAISE - 1 & 2; Preventing radicalisation through probation and release - PREPARE; Local Communication Strategies to Prevent Extremism - Local Voices), as well as the H2020 project “Partnership against Violent Radicalisation in Cities - PRACTICIES" - it contributes to. By doing so, this presentation will showcase state-of-the-art local strategies to prevent violent radicalisation across Europe.
Vita:As Executive Director of the European Forum for Urban Security (Efus), Elizabeth Johnston is responsible for the strategy and development of Efus, in liaison with the Executive Committee, and is in charge of staff management. Since February 2016, she is also Executive Director of the French Forum for Urban Security.
In addition, she is Secretary of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Parliament of Mayors and an official associate of the University of Liege (Belgium). Prior to this, and after beginning her career at a French local authority, Elizabeth Johnston served as Programme Director at the French-American Foundation, and as Violence Prevention Expert at the World Bank, in Washington. She holds degrees in Law from Assas University (France), in Political Science from Yale University (United-States) and in Public Policy from Marne-La-Vallée University (France).
